Putting regular exercise into your lifestyle is easier said than done. It’s physically demanding, and you have to give your best physical efforts to it. That’s basically because this is a physical pursuit. It asks you of your precious time. You need to spend an hour or so each day, a few hours each week. You must persevere with it until you achieve your health target. All in all, jumping into the ride to wellness requires a firm commitment to be able to do and continue what it takes to get to the finish line.
Once you begin working out and start seeing, gaining and realizing its tremendous benefits in your life, you will fall in love with it. At first, you think it’s an obligation, but later on, you are enjoying it, so it will feel more like a pleasant hobby. How awesome that it can lead to personality development as well!
The first step is often the hardest. For people working out for the first time, it’s undeniably quite difficult, given that they have no previous experience, so they do not have a personal testimony yet. They could have many doubts and hesitations, too. However, another thing that’s as hard as the first step or that is probably sometimes harder than it is this: Starting over again.
People who actually work out before they stop or pause indefinitely have a different kind of dilemma. It could be difficult for them to get back on track because of certain reasons. Some are no longer willing to make the sacrifices that regular exercising necessitates. Others have vices that keep them stepping back. Meanwhile, many are just not ready to make a comeback.
Well, worry not! Take it easy. Living a healthy life with regular exercise is one of the sweetest things you will ever know! Here are 5 tips to start working out again after a long break!
1 – Make up your mind now.
If not today, then when? When will you decide to love your health more with the help of regular exercise?
Make up your mind now. Splash color into your life again. Make those rusty joints shine bright and move smoothly again. Feel better, and look better. Develop an improved mindset. Embrace a sound mental well-being and a stable emotional state.
Once the thought “Should I try again?” comes back to you, think of it seriously, and see to it that you make the right choice, and that is to actually try again. The action can only happen after the decision, so settle on a plan as soon as you can. While you have that feeling of interest again, take the opportunity. It does not come really often.
2 – Begin again gently.
There’s a huge tendency that you think you can just start again where you left off. It’s possible in other situations in life, like in relationships or in education, but in working out, it’s not the same.
Some people want to straightforwardly proceed to intense workouts and to using heavy-weight exercise equipment, saying that they were already on that level before they stopped exercising. They think that could be a prerequisite that will give them an automatic pass and that will let them start again conveniently and quickly as they want. If you are beginning again, you should really begin again without exemptions because it’s going to be you who will also suffer if you skip some steps on this road to fitness.
Begin again gently. Although you have done this before, you should still train again like the first time and as needed, test the waters again. Your body might have some changes after a year or those years of physical inactivity. What you can do 2 years ago might now be taxing or harmful to your body right now.
Get the ball rolling, and do it mildly. You are back to square one; remember that. Do not push yourself too hard. Carefully, move back in the right direction!
3 – Be patient with time and with yourself.
People who are returning to their forgotten healthy lifestyle might have that feeling of impatience or uneasiness once they begin again. That’s because starting over again requires you to walk back to the springboard and go through the same courses plus some more courses you did not encounter in your first attempt. It can be daunting if you feel like you are running out of time and if you think that you can not do it anymore.
However, do not lose hope. Be tenacious and determined. Be patient with time. You cannot do anything to stop it in the first place. Time is beyond your control, so do not stress yourself out because of it. Instead, work out, and give it your best shot. It’s your second (or maybe third, fourth or fifth) chance, and do not let it slip out of your hands and get wasted.
More significantly, be patient with yourself. Do not beat yourself up for having to start again and for taking it slow. It’s alright. You are making progress regardless. The moment you make a decision to care for your health and fitness again is the moment your new progress bar begins pressing on.
4 – Don’t wait for too long to build momentum.
Start slowly but surely. Take your time. Do not sacrifice the quality and the fruits of your working out only to say you are forging on quickly.
At the same time, do not wait for too long to build momentum. Start gently, but after getting the hang of it again, go for it. Once you feel the burning passion rising in your chest and in your bones, that long-lost feeling of yours, it’s coming. The momentum is gradually arriving back and persisting.
Enjoy your second chance at fitness and health! Time is gold, so value it wisely.
5 – Maintain consistency.
Now, because you are back at it again after a long break from exercising, make sure you do not commit the same shortcomings and mistakes as before. The issue was most likely about not being able to carry forward the demands of regular exercise and to stick with your commitment to it. This time, maintain consistency.
Be more dedicated and strong-willed. Scold yourself when you are being stubborn. Remind yourself whenever you almost forget. Taking breaks is fine, but long breaks can lead to stopping.
If you want to fulfill your health and fitness goals, you have to start and keep going.
BACK AT IT!
You might be reluctant to go back to exercising because the fact that you will have to walk back to the starting line makes you impatient. It’s like you feel that what you have achieved before you stopped your fitness quest has been wasted already. Such a thought can be discouraging and disheartening sometimes for people who are considering revisiting their healthful lifestyle.
Nevertheless, know and understand that regrets should not tie you down in a place of stagnation. Take those regrets to your advantage. Let them become your driving force to go back to working out and to do so much better than before.
It’s been a long time since the last time you picked up exercise equipment or you sweat off while jogging before sunrise. Retrace your steps. Thankfully, there’s actually no age limit when it comes to health and fitness, so no matter your age, you can always go back. Still and all, do not wait for you to arrive at an age where you can no longer move as you please. While your body can, do it. Go back to working out.